heating my shop with used motor oil

Winter is coming…and I am getting tired of wrenching on my rigs with gloves, a coat, and hat. I assume there are quite a few gearheads out there in the same boat as I am; access to lots of old oil, not a lot of access to $$, and willing to build something cool to produce heat. I just finished converting an oil furnace to run on waste oil so I thought I would share it.

Cost is the main reason I decided to do this conversion. With propane at almost $3 per gallon and home heating oil between $3 and $4 per gallon, heating my shop was going to be expensive. My neighbor spends over $2000 each winter in heating oil to keep his house warm. According to the DOE, the average household that uses oil heat burns over 1000 gallons each year; at today’s prices, that’s around $4000 for heat! I wanted to heat for free; and I have access to an unlimited supply of waste motor oil, and about 5 gallons of vegetable oil per week. Start to finish, this project cost me around $600 and took me about 40 hours. I did manage to do some scrounging and got quite a bit of stuff for free. However, I did waste some $$ on some ideas that didn’t work out.

I need to give some credit to the members of the altfuelfurnace group in the Yahoo groups. I wouldn’t have attempted this conversion without first reading the info there.

This write-up is intended to demonstrate how I converted my furnace to run on waste oil; it isn’t supposed to give you a detailed step-by-step conversion process. If you’re going to attempt this conversion some basic mechanical skills, some good tools, a GOOD understanding of electrical systems, some patience, and a willingness to experiment are necessary. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my ability. I went through lots of ideas and alternatives before I settled on my final design. I’m listing the steps I took and the parts I used in my conversion; but feel free to be innovative! I’m sure somebody can improve on my design somehow. I believe that the Beckett burner I used is also used in boilers; so this could also be used for in-floor radiant heat, hot-water radiator type heaters, or hydroponic furnaces. A cart could also be built that holds the furnace and a primary oil tank, making this a portable high-capacity heater that you could roll to wherever heat was needed (although exhaust venting would still be necessary).

I don’t assume any kind of responsibility or liability for what you do in your shop. Keep in mind that you are working with flammable liquid and high voltage. If you set your house, shop, garage, or self on fire I’m truly sorry but it’s not my fault. I also know that the EPA prohibits the use of waste oil for heating your home (although it is permitted for heating a garage or shop). I have no idea how this would be enforced. I don’t know of any other laws, rules, statutes, etc. involving the use of waste oil for heating so it is up to you to decide if it is legal for your location and situation.

Suppliers: Everything for this conversion can be purchased from your local hardware store, and the following internet sites:
McMaster-Carr www.mcmaster.com
Ebay www.ebay.com
Surplus Center www.surpluscenter.com
I would provide part numbers but since most of the items were purchased off of ebay and surplus center, they won’t be any good in a few weeks anyway.

Principles of operation: The basic idea of this kit is to preheat the oil before igniting it, and more finely atomizing it. The preheating is done with a cartridge heater and temperature controller, and the atomizing is done with a siphon nozzle and compressed air. To operate properly, the oil supplied to the siphon nozzle must be at a constant level below the nozzle. To make the firing rate more consistent, it also helps to keep this oil at a constant temperature. To accomplish this, I built a small “siphon tank” next to the furnace that holds and preheats the oil. When the temperature in my shop drops below the set point, the thermostat decides to turn on the furnace (this is a normal wall stat like you would see in a house). It turns on power to 2 digital temperature controllers; one heats oil in the siphon tank. This tank is a small tank that is level controlled by a float switch and keeps oil level 2" below the nozzle center line. The other controller heats the nozzle block. Once both heaters have reached their setpoints, they complete the circuit on the “TT” terminals on the primary safety. This turns on the igniter, starts the blower motor, and opens the air solenoid. The igniter provides a continuous spark just in front of the nozzle. The compressed air flows through the siphon nozzle which pulls oil from the tank and finely atomizes it. The safety will continue to run the burner for 45 seconds during the startup. I installed a cadmium sulfide flame detector in the blast tube; if at the end of the 45 seconds no flame is detected (or if it goes out while running) then it shuts the burner down for a minute or so, then repeats the ignition sequence. If the burner doesn’t light during the 45 seconds, the safety “locks out” and must be reset before the furnace will operate.

I consider myself quite mechanically inclined but have never worked with this type of furnace before; I would have saved a few hours of web mining if I had found a simple vocabulary list like this:
• Igniter: The black box on top of the burner that provides the spark for lighting the fuel
• Primary Safety: The control on top of the burner that monitors the burner and turns it off if the flame goes out. Mine had 4 terminals; 2 “T” terminals (these need to be shorted together for the burner to run, comes in handy for keeping the burner off until the heaters are up to operating temperature) and 2 “F” terminals (these take an input from a cadmium sulfide flame detector, which makes sure the burner doesn’t go out)
• Retention head: This is the turbine-looking piece at the end of the burner where the flame comes out; it is used to direct air into the atomized fuel.

Step one: Obtain a used oil furnace (or just the burner, if you already have an oil furnace). It needs to be a Beckett burner. I used a Beckett AF series in a 75k BTU Olsen downdraft furnace. I found that, with a little patience, good working used furnaces can be purchased for cheap ($150 or so) on craigslist. Usually, the people selling the furnace are also selling their oil tank to go along with it. My local heating contractor also provided me with some free furnaces that they removed from homes, although I didn’t use any of them because they were all broken or worn out. I tested it on diesel just to make sure the burner and fan were in working condition before I started. I also got familiar with how the burner operated under different conditions (like when the fuel source was removed), and I paid particular attention to how the flame looked inside of the combustion chamber so that I could tune the burner to match this after the conversion. My furnace also had a 24v transformer and relay used for the thermostat already installed (this was useful for switching the power to the burner). It also had a fan thermostat (turns on the blower when the temperature reaches the setpoint, and turns the burner off if the temperature gets too high).

Step two: Obtain all of the parts needed for the burner conversion. I’ve listed the major parts below; things like wire, solder, crimp terminals, vent piping, tubing, brass fittings, etc. are not listed.

1. Pre-heater cartridge kit. This is a kit sold on Ebay by ckep1. He sells 2 kits; the first includes a machined aluminum block for holding the siphon nozzle, the nozzle itself, and the cartridge heater. The second kit adds a temperature controller with thermocouple, a relay, and a flame retention head. The heater block is the key part here; it is the one part that would be most difficult to come up with and I haven’t found anything else similar to it.
2. Temperature controller: You need to get 2 of them (one if you get one with the above kit). One is for the nozzle block heater, and the other is for the siphon tank heater. I bought mine for $39 each on ebay. Search for PID temperature controller. Make sure you get them with a thermocouple (this is what senses the temperature). I did find some 2-channel controllers, but they were more than 3 times the price of the TGC controllers so it was cheaper to just buy 2 single channel ones.
3. Flame retention head: You can get one with the kit in number one, or build your own. It is pretty easy with a bit of 24GA stainless steel and some tin snips and a welder. This is necessary to provide enough air to fully burn the atomized oil.
4. 110v SPST relay, 10A minimum: This is necessary for the temperature controller to operate the cartridge heater in the nozzle block.
5. 24V SPST relay, 15A minimum: for the immersion heater on the siphon tank
6. 24V DPDT relay, 15A minimum: For the float switch in the siphon tank. Controls the transfer pump, and ensures the tank is full before turning on the immersion heater.
7. 24V transformer: for control voltages for the float switch and thermostat. My furnace came with one already installed
8. ¼” soft copper refer line; used for the oil supply line.
9. You will need some flare ends and other misc. fittings.
10. Air regulator with a gauge, capable of 0-30 PSI
11. Air solenoid valve with 110V coil
12. Some 1” round steel bar stock (I used this for making weld-in ¼” NPT fittings)
13. ¼” brass breather vent (vent for the siphon tank) I used this one from McMaster-Carr: 4450K2
14. Float switch (to control oil level in the tank) I used this one from McMaster-Carr: 48095K61
15. Petcock drain with ¼” NPT fitting
16. Immersion heater element; I found a 1200W 120v hot water heater element with 1” NPT threads at my local Home Depot for about $5. I also tried a block heater I bought off of ebay for about $10, but it took too long to bring the oil up to temperature.

Assembling the burner is fairly straightforward, and takes a few hours. Basically, these are the required steps:
• Replace the Beckett retention head with the new one
• Put the nozzle and the thermocouple in the block heater
• Remove the “J” tube. It will be used as the air supply tube for the nozzle block. Measure the length necessary to place the nozzle flush with the opening in the retention head, and cut the J-tube so that it is about 3/8” longer than the back of the nozzle block
• Use a 1/8” NPT die to cut threads on the J tube and thread it into the back of the nozzle block. The end of the J-tube I had used 45 degree flare; my local hardware store didn’t have any adapters to go from ¼” flare to NPT, so I brazed a flared tubing end to a female 1/8” NPT coupler to make my own adapter.
• Run ¼” copper line from the back of the nozzle block out the side of the burner, underneath the igniter. Where you run this line will depend on your furnace design; see my pics for how I ran mine. This line will be under a vacuum, and if your fittings leak the burner won’t run right. So it is important that all connections be leak free. It has been my experience with past projects that compression fittings will leak after they’ve been tightened and loosened once; you’re better off to buy the tools (they’re cheap) for doing flare fittings.
• Run the line for the thermocouple into the box under the primary safety.
• Move the flame detector somewhere that it can see the flame. I moved mine to the side of the blast tube and ran the wire with the thermocouple cable.
• When you close the igniter box, make sure it makes contact with the leads. Mine didn’t…so I welded a few inches of 3/16” steel rod to the back of the rods. You could just use some allthread though…and I’ve been told that heating shops carry longer rods.
• Remove the oil pump from the burner, and pull out the coupler from inside of the burner fan (this is the parts that drives the oil pump). The pump will not be used, but must be reinstalled to allow the air adjustment to work.
• Wire up the temperature controller; mine had a wiring diagram on a sticker on the side. It’s pretty straightforward; 110v power goes to 2 terminals (this power should come from the power to the primary safety; it is switched on by the thermostat, described in following steps), the thermocouple goes to 2 terminals, and the output contacts switch power to the relay for the cartridge heater. I left the relay in the box under the primary safety (looks cleaner than mounting it elsewhere in the furnace). The alarm contacts go to the “T” terminals on the primary safety. I set my temp controller to 180 degrees, and set the alarm to -15 (so the alarm contacts close at 165 degrees). When the alarm contacts close, this completes the circuit across the TT terminals and starts the burner.
• Adjust the pressure regulator to roughly 15 PSI and plumb it into the burner
• Plumb the air solenoid in line with the regulator.
• Wire the air solenoid to the power output from the primary safety. This means that whenever the safety turns on the burner motor and igniter, it also opens up the air solenoid (and, in turn, starts oil flow)

I tested my burner on the bench with cold oil; found that its performance on the bench isn’t the same as its performance when installed inside of the combustion chamber. I think that the heat inside the chamber helps burn the fuel. My flame was a little inconsistent and tended to go out unless I heated the fuel line with a propane torch. At any rate, it is good to test it on the bench to make sure all of the systems work right. This is a good time to adjust the igniter contacts too. I found that with roughly 30 minutes of testing EVERYTHING in the vicinity of the burner had a thin coating of oil on it. If I do this again, I won’t run my burner inside a building, or even near a building, car, or anything else that I don’t want an oily film on.

I installed my burner back in my furnace, and cut a couple of holes in the side of the furnace for the temp controllers. The power to the primary safety and both temperature controllers comes from a relay inside of the furnace that is switched by a wall thermostat.

Next, I put together my siphon tank. I built mine out of 11GA (1/8”) steel 6” x 6” x 12”. It holds just under 2 gallons of oil. You could use any small tank though…maybe even a small compressed air tank would work.
• I made several weld-in ¼” NPT fittings by cutting roughly 1” long sections out of some 1” round bar and tapping them with a ¼” NPT tap. I also made a 1/8” NPT fitting the same way.
• I put a drain in the bottom (assuming that water, sludge, or other junk will tend to accumulate in the bottom of it).
• I welded a piece of ½”steel round bar to the inside (about ¾” long), and then drilled and tapped it for the thermocouple.
• I made a large opening in the top, in case I had to clean the inside. A lid goes over this opening and gets fastened into place with 4 screws (to keep bugs and other debris out).
• I cut a 1” black steel pipe coupler in half, and welded it to the side of the tank near the bottom. This is where the heater element screws in.
• I put a brass breather vent on the top of the tank (keeps the tank at atmospheric pressure…necessary for proper siphoning)
• I put a ¼” NPT “fill port” in the side of the tank near the top. This is where oil is pumped into the tank, when requested by the float switch.
• I put the float switch in the top of the tank; the leads pass through the 1/8” fitting that the float is screwed into. This float switch serves 2 purposes; it prevents the immersion heater from turning on unless the tank is full (heater elements tend to melt when they aren’t covered with a liquid). It also sends a signal to my transfer pump to refill the siphon tank.
• I made a pick-up tube. Basically, I made a double-long weld in fitting, with each side tapped with ¼” NPT. On the inside of the tank is a short copper line that picks up oil from the center of the tank. On the outside, the fuel line goes into the burner.
• Power for the immersion heater comes from the second temperature controller. It is wired similar to the one for the nozzle block; 110v power goes to 2 terminals (this power should come from the power to the primary safety which is switched on by the thermostat), the thermocouple goes to 2 terminals, and the output contacts switch power to the relay for the immersion heater (this power runs through the NC contacts on the relay for the float switch; so when the level drops in the tank, the float switch energizes a relay, which opens contacts to the heater relay, preventing the heater from turning on if level is low in the tank). My heater is 1200 watts (roughly 10 amps) so I ran dedicated power from the main junction box inside of the furnace to this relay. The alarm contacts go in series with the other temperature controller. The idea here is that BOTH temperature controllers need to be at their setpoints before completing the circuit to the “TT” terminals on the primary safety. I set my temp controller to 100 degrees, and set the alarm to -10 (so the alarm contacts close at 90 degrees).
• The tank needs to be positioned so that the oil level is maintained a couple of inches below the siphon nozzle. Set the tank too high and the nozzle will continually drip oil even when the burner is off. Set it too low and the burner will be starved for oil.

At this point you can run the furnace; I just topped off my siphon tank, and turned everything on. Here is what I learned:
• The nozzle block takes about 1 minute to heat up. It cycles quite frequently
• The siphon tank takes about 5 minutes to heat up the first time; then it cycles on for a minute or so about once per hour.
• My furnace uses about ¾ gallon per hour
• It runs great on my own blend of about 70% 15W 40, 20% 10W 30, 8% 85W 140, and 2% ATF, PS fluid, and other misc petroleum products.
• It still runs fine on diesel, but I need to turn off the heaters or it runs too hot.
• It doesn’t run well on straight gear oil…it is too thick for the siphon nozzle. It might work if I ran a higher temperature in the siphon tank, but I haven’t tried it yet
• It runs too hot on straight Kubota UDT hydrostatic fluid.
• The flame height was best with the air regulator set to about 17 PSI
• The combustion air vent on the side of the burner needs to be almost completely closed; I’m sure this is because of all of the air introduced by the air compressor
• When first igniting, there is a short puff of smoke. After about 30 seconds, there is no smoke and no smell. It burns quite cleanly.
• Burning oil motor oil does result in some soot buildup. It looks like I’ll need to clean the combustion chamber after about 100 hours of use.
• It is important to make sure the oil in the siphon tank is clean. The nozzle orifice is small and will easily clog with even small debris.
• I have a rather large uninsulated shop (1500 sq. ft.). The furnace takes about 30 minutes to heat it up from freezing to about 60 degrees.
• I didn’t try this, but DON’T try to run gasoline, alcohol, or other potentially explosive fuel in this burner.

If so desired, the furnace can be run indefinitely in this state. If the siphon tank was built to hold 4 or 5 gallons it could run all day without a refill (although a larger tank will require longer to heat up when starting the furnace). However, I wanted mine to be completely automatic, and I wanted the convenience of a large oil storage tank. So, here are the steps I took to plumb in this tank:

I bought all of the parts I needed for my tank:
• I bought a 250 gallon home heating oil tank. Mine came with a vent, fill cap, and a level gauge.
• I already had a small 120V centrifugal pump; it was a cheap Harbor Freight clear water pump. However, I’ve discovered that it will pump waste oil. Since it only runs for a few seconds at a time (the deadband on my float switch causes the pump to move about 1 cup of oil before shutting back off) it seems to handle the thicker fluid just fine. If it dies, I’ll buy a waste oil transfer pump (gear pump) that is more suited to transferring waste oil.
• I bought a large filter/water separator from my local Coastal Farm and Ranch (similar to Tractor Supply Company). It was designed for the fuel transfer tanks that go in the bed of a pickup. It has a clear sight bowl and 1” NPT fittings. I figured this would be useful for the occasional oil with water mixed in.
• 3/8” soft copper refer line
• Misc brass fittings and flare ends, whatever is necessary to plumb in your tank, the pump, and the filter

Next, I plumbed and wire the pump and filter setup:
• Again, I used flare fittings at all of my connection points.
• The pump is controlled by a relay that is controlled by the float switch in the siphon tank. This is the same relay that I used as the safety for the heater element (except that I used the NO contacts to control the pump). So, when the level drops in the tank, the float switch contact closes, energizing the relay. The NC contacts on the relay open, preventing the immersion heater from turning on. The NO contacts close, turning on the transfer pump.

Feel free to ask any questions; I’ll answer them the best I can.

Below are a few pictures of my setup and of the burner conversion, and a video of the burner in operation

Here is a short clip of the burner in operation on my bench:

And a video of the furnace's overall design and operation:

Here are a few pictures of the burner before the conversion:










Here is a pic of the Beckett retention head, and a pic of the new retention head:






This is a pic of the parts I used for the burner conversion:




Here are a couple of pics of the nozzle block, and the fuel line and cable routing:






The burner is completed:




Three pics of the burner being tested on the bench. It is running on 15W 40 that I just drained from my truck, and the oil is unheated so the flame is a little smaller than it is with preheated oil:








And a few pics of the furnace installed in my shop (the cover is removed so you can see all of the components):

I actually did this conversion a while ago; since then, I've learned a few things.

1. The centrifugal pump I was using to transfer oil is a pain. Even with a check valve on the discharge, if it doesn't run at least once a day it loses its prime. Ever try to prime a pump with motor oil? Talk about messy. I switched to a positive displacement gear pump...no more headaches.

2. With the oil heated and properly filtered in the siphon tank, the burner will run on almost anything oil-like. I've run lots of different weights and types of oil and haven't had a problem with any of them. I'm still careful not to pour anything explosive or potentially poisonous in there though. Even straight gear oil works, as long as the temperatures for both heaters are raised a little.

3. It is easy to find used motor oil. Everybody is willing to give you their old oil, and several local small "hobby" mechanics have given me an open invitation to come get oil from them whenever I want. I have a few 55 gallon drums sitting around at various homes in the area, and I pick them up once every year or so.

4. I'm not too picky about the cleanliness of the oil (although I won't pour water in my tank), so I put a regular automotive-type filter on the inlet to my transfer pump. It does a great job of filtering out the real junk. It only costs about $2 to change, so I don't mind taking dirty oil. I actually haven't had to change it yet, although I notice my transfer pump running longer and longer each time. It's probably time to put a new one on there...

5. I've burned quite a bit of oil through the furnace...maybe 40 gallons or so. I pulled the burner out of the chamber last week and didn't notice anything strange. Nothing melted, and everything seems quite clean. I still may need to clean it at some point, but I'm guessing I'll get a full season's use out of it with no maintenance.

6. There is no smell and no smoke at all (except for one quick puff when the burner first lights). Even running gear oil directly in my siphon tank doesn't seem to have any effect on this.

Excellent "How To" article Thanks for posting.

I concur.

Thanks for taking the time to post all of this!

Scott

WOW!!!! Nice job on the waste oil heater. great post! thanks daye

Very kind of you to spend all that time in explaining how to convert to waste oil..

I was looking at the pictures of your furnace and was wondering if you were going to put tin on it? At least the supply anyway

Thanks again for your post

Dennis

beenthere said:

Very kind of you to spend all that time in explaining how to convert to waste oil..

I was looking at the pictures of your furnace and was wondering if you were going to put tin on it? At least the supply anyway

Thanks again for your post

Dennis

Click to expand...

I actually posted this a few weeks ago in another forum and I saved a doc with the code, so it looks like a lot but really only took me a few minutes

I guess I don't quite understand your question...if you are asking about the front cover for the furnace, I just took those pics without it installed. If you are asking about ducting, it is the way you see it. My shop is 100% open, so no real need to move the air from one end to the other (although on really cold days there is a noticeable temperature difference from one end of the shop to the other). There is a filter on the return air (inlet) at the top of the furnace, and some registers on the outlet at the bottom. If you're asking about any other covers or shields, I hadn't planned on installing anything else. It is a little difficult to tell in the pics, but the furnace itself is about 12" from the wall. The cradle it is mounted in is welded to a steel post.

Insulation and drywall is on the schedule for my shop; that will certainly help with the amount of oil I consume. But...as I'm doing everything out of pocket, that project will come when the $$ comes

Great write up I actully have the same furnace what would be the total cost of the conversion ?

Your suspended furnace is giving me ideas damn you LOL

s_ontario said:

Great write up I actully have the same furnace what would be the total cost of the conversion ?

Your suspended furnace is giving me ideas damn you LOL

Click to expand...

Suspending the furnace was great...amazing how much free space it adds. Mine worked out perfect with no ducting because it is a downdraft, but even with an updraft it only adds a bit of ductwork.

Total cost...that's kind of difficult to tell...I didn't keep strict track of the conversion cost because I bought some parts that didn't work out and ended up reworking some of the project. I ended up around the $750 area, but that included some $$ for the purchase of the furnace, oil tank, ducting, and vent piping. You already have all of that stuff. And, if you follow my writeup, you won't have any (or very little) rework and ideas that don't work out. However, I did already have a lot of the parts and all of the tools needed for this...all of the wiring, relays, copper tubing, fittings, air fittings, etc. were all in my shop already so I didn't have to buy them.
I would guess that, if a person was good at scrounging stuff and was willing to work with the things they already have on hand, the conversion could be done for around $300. If a person was installing a new furnace and needed to run a new vent for it, and wanted to buy all of the parts off of the shelf, and needed to buy some of the specialty tools (tube flaring, welding equipment, taps and dies, etc.) the conversion will be more like $1000 or more.

I've been running the furnace pretty steady for the last few weeks...no problems yet. I did need to change the filter on the oil tank; it was filled with all sorts of thick sludge. Most of that was in the bottom of the oil tank I got though...I don't expect to have to change it that often in the future. Other than that filter change, I have had no maintenance or adjustments at all.
I also tested out my water trap; I poured a cup of water in the oil tank and ran the furnace for a few hours. It worked great; I got almost the same amount out of the water trap at the end of the day, and nothing in the siphon tank (some probably stayed in the tank, and some probably ended up in my oil filter). It should be able to handle about a quart at a time.
I also bought a small 12v pump for transferring oil from the barrel into my tank:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=9576
This pump has a rubber impeller and pumps the oil just fine. There are a few people selling them on ebay as well. I took the battery clips off and put a 7 pole trailer connector on it; so I can just plug it in to the trailer connector on my truck. Much nicer than pumping entire barrels by hand.

Thought I would do a midwinter update
Furnace is working perfect. I've left the tstat at 45 when I'm not in the shop, and up to 60 when I'm working. Gone through a little over 200 gallons of used oil. Had to change the oil filter once (two times total now), and I had the siphon tank heater element go out (it was $6 or so at Home Depot). It looks like oil carbonized and formed a coating around the element, reducing it's ability to transfer heat. It overheated and melted inside of the carbon "shell". If I could find a cheap lower-wattage one I would put it in...but being only a few $$ at HD I'll put up with having to change the heater once or twice a year.
No other problems though...I pulled the burner a few weeks ago to inspect the inside of the combustion chamber. It was coated in a white powdery ash, but was quite clean. I'm sure I'll only need to clean it once a year. A quick pass with the shop vac should do it.
I also discovered that almost every barrel of oil I got has a bit of water in it. I just drained the water out of the trap for the first few days after a new barrel...but if there was more than a quart some made it into the siphon tank (which also has a drain, but heating it was causing some kind of emulsion to form and it was burning poorly...a slight wisp of smoke and a minor oil smell). I found that if I add a quart of isopropyl alcohol (IsoHeet at my local Napa) with each barrel it completely takes care of any water issues.

Spring seems to be here...using my furnace less and less now. I thought I would post one last update on it.

I have burned around 500 gallons of oil through it this winter. No problems at all (except for the burned out heater element in my last post). I kept the shop at 45 degrees when I wasn't working in it, and 60 when I was. The inside of the combustion chamber had to be cleaned ...It was covered in a fine powdery ash and was beginning to reduce its ability to transfer heat. A few minutes with the shop vac took care of it. I used the 12v electric pump to transfer oil from barrels in the bed of my truck to my holding tank for a while, but I got annoyed with how slowly it pumped (it could take about 2 hours to empty the barrel when it was cold outside). I switched to an air-powered diaphragm pump. I bought a 1/2" ARO (ingersoll-rand) pump from ebay for $120. It works WAY faster than the Harbor Freight transfer pump...15-20 minutes to empty a 55 gallon drum.
Overall, there is nothing I am planning on changing. Everything works the way I want and I'm pretty happy with this setup.

Thought I would keep my thread alive...

I just added what I consider a pretty important feature to my furnace. A few weeks ago, I got a barrel of waste oil and pumped it into my tank; the next morning, I came out to the shop to find out that sludge had completely clogged the oil filter, and my oil pump had run all night with no flow. The pump was burned up...cost me $104 for a new one. It got me thinking too...what if my float switch stuck, the relay failed, etc.? The pump would run continuously until the storage tank was empty, and pump it all through the overflow on my siphon tank onto the floor of my shop. I don't want 300 gallons of motor oil on the floor of my shop, and I don't want to buy another $104 pump. So, I bought a time interval relay from McMaster Carr. Basically, when the float switch energizes this relay, it will only stay on for 30 seconds, then switch off. It resets the timer when power is removed. Since my pump normally only runs for a few seconds at a time (when the filter is clean), the pump should operate the same as it always has. But, if anything happens to cause the pump to run for 30 seconds continuously, the relay will time out and won't allow the pump to restart without me resetting it. I think it is a pretty good solution to the problem...

On another note, I have burned well over 1000 gallons of oil, no other problems.

hi, after reading your post, i built a waste oil furnace. Your post is EXCELLENT
i put a siphon nozzle, heater, small heated tank .... all electricity, pump....
work great now

i am now on the 10 h of running, -18 dec outside my garage 22 inside ( i am in t-shirt now )

no smell outside, no smoke at all.
the last thing i need to build is a sealed cover for the heated tank ( heated waste oil smell $%^&*( )

thank you very much for your post

update : 1 feb 2010 , -22 outside... lol 20 deg inside my garage, one small trouble...air leak !!!,use quality parts or wont run properly, run on full synt gear oil, engine oil, trans oil... mobil 1, diesel oil, synt manual trans oil, 75w140... anything now 30h on the clock and heating. no smoke except on startup... 15 sec when cold and 1-2 sec when hot. i am happy .
i have sealed the cover of the oil tank and put a vent outside... no more bad odour.

yvan

I have been looking for a cheaper way to heat my shop. I have everything I need to make this burner other than a watlow control. What i was wondering is if you know what model I need. I want one that has the correct inputs and outputs and setup. Do you know what model the guy on ebay is using.

i guess the sequence goes like this

1. wall thermostat calls for heat.
2. watlow energizes tip heater bringing it up to temp and controls it to that temp.
3. air valve opens only if is up to temp when which in turn develops suction to draw oil thru nozzle.
4. wall thermostat calls for heat to shut down.
5. air valve closes and tip heater shuts down.

Here's a link to the one that I am using:
LINK

Or you can just search ebay for "PID temperature controller"

I actually don't know the model or brand...I would have to take the cover off of my furnace to check. But, that is the exact temp controller I am using. It comes with dual alarm contacts and a K-type thermocouple.

Your sequence is correct; the temperature controller has an alarm function that I use to control the air solenoid and igniter. I set it to alarm 15 degrees below the heater setpoint. So, when the nozzle gets within 15 degrees of the setpoint, the alarm contacts close, opening the air solenoid and energizing the primary safety/igniter. When the wall thermostat no longer calls for heat, it cuts power to the temp controller, which closes the solenoid and deenergizes the primary safety/igniter. I'm actually not sure what the alarm contacts are rated at, so I used an external relay to operate the solenoid and primary safety.

Thank you so much those pid controllers are cheap.

This thread has me thinking again. I bought a used oil furnace 4 years ago to do the conversion with. By the time I got it home and unloaded I noticed the refractory cement combustion chamber was busted. I was going to sell the oil burner and cut my losses.

Maybe it will be worth trying to find a furnace with a good chamber and a bad burner. It would be nice to set the thermostat and not have to worry about loading wood in a stove.

newarkprecision said:

Thank you so much those pid controllers are cheap.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought...$35 really seems like a deal for such a complicated little piece of equipment. The two I have in my furnace have run flawlessly, and they actually "learn" how to predict how long they need to turn on and off to keep the temp steady. I keep trying to think of other uses around my shop for them...

nice write up, subscribed.....

This is really cool stuff.

Now if you could only figure out a way to COOL my garage with waste motor oil!

Hey I have found that using the fueloil pump on the burner really makes the system run better. Believe it or not Cleanburn actually uses this pump it looks to be the same pump. Check it out and tell me what you think. What I did was bring oil in inlet and on the port where the gauge mounts I put a small needle valve to allow the pump to unload back into the tank and controll the amount of oil. I also put a needle valve on the inlet to the nozzle. Here is a link to the service manual .


http://www.cleanburn.com/dealers/library/1750_2500_3250_Book.pdf

newarkprecision said:

Hey I have found that using the fueloil pump on the burner really makes the system run better.
http://www.cleanburn.com/dealers/library/1750_2500_3250_Book.pdf

Click to expand...

If it works for you, great! Every furnace and every situation is different...what works for me might not be suitable for everybody else, and what you build might be perfect for somebody else reading this.

Are you using the factory nozzle, or something else? Are you using the pump to supply a pressure nozzle? Or are you using it to supply a positive pressure to a siphon nozzle?

The biggest problem I can see with using a needle valve to control the flow rate is that the flow will vary with viscosity (flow will be much lower on colder days, or when a thicker oil is poured into the tank). I can imagine that this valve would require adjustment any time there is a change in oil viscosity. Also, the needle valve is prone to clogging...I experienced this with the first waste oil furnace I built about 10 years ago. I used a needle valve to regulate the flow and it seemed like once every month or two I had to cycle it to free up the grime that collected in it (I was only using a screen filter).

The siphon nozzle also has this problem...but I took care of it by making a constant level, temperature controlled siphon tank. I only had to change the temperature one time in the last 2 years; that was when I mixed about 30 gallons of old gasoline in with 300 gallons of waste motor oil. I had to lower the temp in the siphon tank to keep the furnace from burning too hot and tripping on overtemperature.

The reason I decided to eliminate the use of the factory pump was that I did not want to use a pressure nozzle, and it was not suitable for any other use in my build; it would have had to pull the oil about 8ft up from the tank, and then back out to my siphon tank.

If you are using a pressure nozzle, here are my thoughts on that:
After I took my pump apart, I decided that the nozzle was just too small to reliably pass oil that varied in viscosity (and cleanliness)...and this was confirmed by my research. Most of the complaints about clogged nozzles I found were from people using pressure nozzles. That little tiny orifice doesn't like the waste oil...even if it is clean carbon tends to build up on it and it requires frequent maintenance. It also doesn't atomize the oil as well as a siphon nozzle. I wanted my design to require annual (or less) maintenance, and to reliably operate with no attention from me.
I'm sure that some burners are more tolerant of waste oil, but I tried to run my furnace on a mix of motor oil and fuel oil before I did any conversion...after about 50% mix, it wouldn't burn reliably. It was very smoky and the flame went out frequently. On the other hand, there are some commercial waste oil burners that do use a pressure nozzle...so there's obviously a way to make it work. I just didn't think it would work for me. The one BIG advantage that a pressure nozzle has is that it doesn't require compressed air to operate.

Yes I am using the siphon nozzle with air . The secret is to put a t fitting on outlet of pump and regulate pressure here the valve will be almost wide open the other side of the t will goto burner. In other words the more you decrease the flow the more oil will goto nozzle. I also built a tank the keeps a constant oil temp. If you look at cleanburns stuff you will see exactly how they do it.

newarkprecision said:

Yes I am using the siphon nozzle with air . The secret is to put a t fitting on outlet of pump and regulate pressure here the valve will be almost wide open the other side of the t will goto burner. In other words the more you decrease the flow the more oil will goto nozzle. I also built a tank the keeps a constant oil temp. If you look at cleanburns stuff you will see exactly how they do it.

Click to expand...

Yep...I read through the cleanburn manual. Do you have a filter on the inlet side of the pump? The reason I ask is, if the valve you have in the return line gets clogged, you will suddenly have 100% flow to your nozzle and a REALLY hot furnace.

Did you start using the pump because you were having problems with the siphon nozzle running under a vacuum? Before I built my burner, I was worried about this being a problem area but it has worked fine since the day I built it.

sewerzuk said:

Yep...I read through the cleanburn manual. Do you have a filter on the inlet side of the pump? The reason I ask is, if the valve you have in the return line gets clogged, you will suddenly have 100% flow to your nozzle and a REALLY hot furnace.

Did you start using the pump because you were having problems with the siphon nozzle running under a vacuum? Before I built my burner, I was worried about this being a problem area but it has worked fine since the day I built it.

Click to expand...

Yes I have a filter. Yes I had a problem with the vacuum was not giving me the desired heat. What I have found is that I do not even need the valve at all just need to get the oil to the inlet line before the burner. There is no oil pressure to nozzle at all. The siphon takes over from there.

I am preheating the oil to about 100 deg. block heat is set for 175 and will kick out if it drops to 165. At first I was having trouble with keeping block up to temp kept going down. After doing the t these problems went away. Another plus to the t is that bleeding line is easy. I seen on your furnace you bent your copper line into a trap. That is a really good idea

sewerzuk said:

Yep...I read through the cleanburn manual. Do you have a filter on the inlet side of the pump? The reason I ask is, if the valve you have in the return line gets clogged, you will suddenly have 100% flow to your nozzle and a REALLY hot furnace.

Did you start using the pump because you were having problems with the siphon nozzle running under a vacuum? Before I built my burner, I was worried about this being a problem area but it has worked fine since the day I built it.

Click to expand...

Yes I have a filter. Yes I had a problem with the vacuum was not giving me the desired heat. What I have found is that I do not even need the valve at all just need to get the oil to the inlet line before the burner. There is no oil pressure to nozzle at all. The siphon takes over from there.

I am preheating the oil to about 100 deg. block heat is set for 175 and will kick out if it drops to 165. At first I was having trouble with keeping block up to temp kept going down. After doing the t these problems went away. Another plus to the t is that bleeding line is easy. I seen on your furnace you bent your copper line into a trap. That is a really good idea

before building my waste oil burner, i found on internet some manifacturer that put pressure on the vaccum nozzle , like 3-4 psi and vaposize the oil with air pressure. they use pretty small jet - .5 g - h for a 80 000 btu furnace. they heat oil in the nozzle block but i think it is too complicated for diy, too much parts like precision speed controlled pump ( $$$ ), pressure supplied oil in the nozzle block.... too much for me

i preheat oil to at 145 deg cel ( 290 deg f ) and i put a hot glue gun heater on nozzle , it is self regulated at 180 deg f.

i post pic in few days

my furnace have 39.3 h of burner operation and i dont touch anything the last 10 h of running, air pressure is set at 3.5 psi, oil temp to 145 deg cel and my air adjustment band set a midpoint.

yvan

yvanlavoie20 said:

i preheat oil to at 145 deg cel ( 290 deg f )

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That seems REALLY hot to me...have you tried running it at a lower temperature? Are you preheating the oil in a tank? Did you choose that temperature because you were having oil flow problems at lower temperatures? If it works for you that's great...but I would think that you're wasting a fair bit of energy heating the oil up that much.

Just for comparison, I have my nozzle heater set to 180 degrees F, and my siphon tank at 70 degrees F. The oil level in my siphon tank is about 1" below the nozzle centerline. My air pressure it set to 17 psi. I have my air vents on the burner just cracked open. The oil I am running is mostly 15W40 waste oil from my trucks, but there is also quite a bit of gear oil, and a smaller amount of ATF, hydraulic fluid, PS fluid, vegetable oil, etc. Occasionally I pour a few gallons of old gas in, but when I do I usually need to lower the temperatures on the heaters by about 10 degrees, and lower the air pressure a few psi.

i put the temp to 145 to obtain a very clean burn ... no smoke at all, i try to drop it but without succes

i preheat the oil in a tank and my upper level is less than 1 in of the center of the nozzle.

i try many pressure with the .5 nozzle , from 10 to 25 psi but my furnace wont burn clean. i put a .75 nozzle and drop pressure to 3.5 psi.

with this set-up i can start the furnace at -20 deg and 15-20 second later the smoke disapear

i burn all oil i can have... many come from track racer and from friends,most is synt oil, i burn anything but i need higher temp in the tank . with 10w30 i can drop temp to 90-100 deg cel.

yvan

yvanlavoie20 said:

i put the temp to 145 to obtain a very clean burn ... no smoke at all, i try to drop it but without succes

i preheat the oil in a tank and my upper level is less than 1 in of the center of the nozzle.

i try many pressure with the .5 nozzle , from 10 to 25 psi but my furnace wont burn clean. i put a .75 nozzle and drop pressure to 3.5 psi.

with this set-up i can start the furnace at -20 deg and 15-20 second later the smoke disapear

i burn all oil i can have... many come from track racer and from friends,most is synt oil, i burn anything but i need higher temp in the tank . with 10w30 i can drop temp to 90-100 deg cel.

yvan

Click to expand...

There are no parts to buy if you have a beckett burner with the pump use that pump. Just some plumbing nothing more than that. Leave the pump on the burner. Im telling you it works well and just like clean burn does it

newarkprecision said:

There are no parts to buy if you have a beckett burner with the pump use that pump. Just some plumbing nothing more than that. Leave the pump on the burner. Im telling you it works well and just like clean burn does it

Click to expand...

pics?? maybe a whole new thread??